


Christmas Special: First Snow

by leechailatten



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Mild Smut, also a good and kinda painful slight angst, but mainly fluff, dokkaebi ten and taeyong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28289343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leechailatten/pseuds/leechailatten
Summary: Ten was like a snowflake, unique in his species and always dancing dazzlingly in front of Taeyong’s mesmerized eyesight.
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul | Ten
Comments: 4
Kudos: 14





	Christmas Special: First Snow

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE, note that this special belongs to my story "Believe in me, please" that you can find [ here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24494281/chapters/59124916)!  
> In case you want to read this and decide later if you continue with the other story or not, I warn you that there is going to be spoilers about the main story since this is setted after all the main events, but you can read freely if you want.  
> The reason I wanted to post this special today is that BiM is a story I have been growing more and more fond of, and that helped keeping me a bit more sane during this awful year. I know this holidays are going to be different and somewhat depressing for some people, which lead me to the idea of posting something warm dedicated to this day so people can have a little piece of present. Specially dedicated to Xiu for feeding my imagination and supporting me with encouraging words.  
> I hope you enjoy this and love it as much as I actually do, merry christmas and thank you for loving this AU, I'll see you in the comment box if you want to say something else :)

Ten was like a snowflake, unique in his species and always dancing dazzlingly in front of Taeyong’s mesmerized eyesight. 

In his godlike life, Taeyong had never considered himself so.

He knew there was a heavy burden laying on his shoulders when it came to the safeguard of the Ahopsan Forest, mostly because it had been drilled into his brain since he was a cub, but beside the insulated, almost useless life in the woods once everyone fled to the city, he had always thought that he wasn't doing a lot more than a simple youth could. 

He woke up and had breakfast, like everyone else, and then he did his chores, educated himself with his grandmother's book and took some time for himself in the afternoon to make his hobbies improve for the fun of it. 

In his honest opinion, and probably in the opinion of everyone else, nothing differed from the way Mark, Johnny, Sicheng or any human kid from the city organised their life.

He still remembered the initial shock that hit him when he first saw Ten. 

It was last year's autumn, and the forest ground was covered with mud and wet leaves. Everything around Taeyong had been covered in that fresh, damp and earthy smell for quite some days, but the air got suddenly crossed by an unusual stroke of sweet flowers and dried sandalwood. 

At the first glimpse, he had thought Ten was already crossing the line, but soon, the wolf noticed the slow rise and fall of his chest. 

What was a pristine creature like him doing in the middle of a blood puddle. 

He had no business looking like the north star even with his blonde hair all disheveled and his face scratched by the wild brambles of the forest, so Taeyong grasped the notion fast, and the pulsing pearl resting on his chest confirmed his theory. 

He wasn't human, thus, Taeyong couldn't leave him there in such a state. But as a forest keeper, he had learned that when nature makes you look and smell so good, you are probably just about to snap when the bee is attracted so he guarded his own back. 

Stealing the heart of a heart-eating dokkaebi turned out to be the crack on his routine that proved to him he was not like the human kids. 

Fate is so whimsical. 

Over time, Taeyong owned the right to keep Ten's heart hanging from a silver string, next to his, with his very own achievements, and in the spawn of one year, he ended up wrapped in his fuzzy black coat and his scarf, carrying his backpack and following after Ten as they crossed the frozen woods. 

It was the first snow of the year and the younger had bent to indulge Taeyong’s pumped up reaction when he saw the weather prediction on TV, but he shouldn't be too bothered by the decision because the pearl pendant had a nice and warm contact with Taeyong’s skin under his layers of clothes that kept him cozy even through the falling pieces of ice coming from the sky. 

He didn't need Ten to guide the way, but he kept moving slower than his boyfriend, maintaining the distance that allowed him to see the magical view that made his heart swell. 

They had met last autumn, but they had never lived through winter together.

Taeyong began to feel hurt by the universe's robbery once again as he looked at the crystallized landscape being poured with cold glitter become nothing but a background if Ten stole all the available beauty of the scene for himself. 

He had let the natural black color of his hair take over the blonde dye a couple of months ago, surprising the wolf with the sheer softness of his countenance being brushed by the coal hue contrast, but getting closer to festivities, Ten had decided to spark some christmas joy in their house by rescuing the leftover cherry dye abandoned in Taeyong’s side of the bathroom cabinet to give himself a new look. 

The gelid wisp of wind dragged some of the bicolor strands of Ten's hair to mess with the shimmering bits of ice, braiding them together like a pretty veil just for a few moments before they melted into wet locks, and the dreamy exhales came out from his reddened lips to become a dense cloud of fog. 

If Taeyong were to close his eyes, he would have only thought about being kissed by those lips as softly as his breath brushed past them. 

Still, the sunlight slipped shyly through the barely present leaves of the foliage to make Ten’s honeyd skin glow with the subtle golden undertone of its own. 

"Taeyong" his voice sang like a tiny bird chirping and taking off the flight around the pine branches. "Look out"

The wolf could barely react before the always agile moves of his boyfriend caught him without warning and the snowball hit him right on his shoulder, exploding onto thousands of snow particles that wetted his coat and the clear giggles of Ten lifting the resting grasshoppers from the bushes with the sound. 

The same as if Ten had pressed a switch, his laugh shook his chest too. 

"Hey, don't you have any respect for your seniors?" He joked, hurrying up to gather some snow from the ground to form a ball and tossing it in Ten's direction even though Ten dodged it fine. 

"You are barely six months older" he whined, still too humoured to mean it. "And I caught up the second time we were born"

It was hard to remember things like that during that time of the year without crooking his lips, but at least Ten was able to crack small jokes about it without getting anxious at the thought of waking up alone again. 

"Still!" 

The second snowball made Taeyong crunch down a little, avoiding the impact by inches and with the projectile grazing the top of Taeyong’s equally pristine hair. 

When he lifted his vision, his dark eyes locked with Ten, both as mischievous as amused, the wolf let out one of those tentative, quiet snarls that made his teeth show and Ten lick his lips. 

"This is how you wanna do it?" Warned Taeyong, taking his leap as soon as he wrapped up his sentence, since he knew Ten was faster once they started running. "Come here, you foxy little fox!"

Wild and sylvan as they come, Ten sprinted in between the pines and trees, snickering like a child and with Taeyong on his trail trying to either catch him or hit him with a snowball that's freezing his hands by the time he hawls it to the younger. 

Ten whined between chuckles as the cold sunk through his wet jeans but he kept moving, through the woods and over the fallen branches. 

So deep into the forest, the snow was still untouched ahead of them by the exception of a few squirrel's footprints that appeared here and there, and Ten couldn't help it. Something inside his light heart turned around and when he stepped over a frozen stub, he jumped straight onto the virgin plain of white snow. 

He felt something strange, yet familiar in a way. A spark, and then an emotion-inducing vertigo that he had grown unused to feel. 

Ten's little front paws sunk on the snow, and so did his face, shocking him with the refreshing cold and the sudden change. His body jolted and herolled on the fuzzy snow with a wiggle of his tail. 

"Ten!?"

He jumped up again, standing up to point his nose at his boyfriend while they both took a quiet look at the apparition of his white and carmine form. 

He made a sound to let Taeyong know he was okay, but he took no time before he spinned around his own axis trying to catch a glimpse of his two shy tails. He was happy, so happy to see them back that he moved them and brushed his own face with them, catching the fur carefully with his paws and rolling once more in the snow like a joyful cub. 

He was still confused when he heard the rushed steps of Taeyong as he got closer to him, sinking his knees on the snow to take a good look at what was happening. 

"Ten? Fox?" He asked slowly, a hand lifting up hesitant with the impulse of patting the white canin head. 

Just like the first and almost only time he had been careful like that, Ten went straight to rub the crown of his head with Taeyong’s hand, pushing against his palm and purring when the older scratched softly. 

His paws rested on Taeyong's chest as he looked up to him, eyes bright and tails twirling fast from side to side. 

"Well, look at that" smiled the older, hugging the warm body of the fox as he snuggled against him to settle down. "It's been a while, little, beautiful fox" 

The cold was slowly sinking through Taeyong’s pants, but he couldn’t get up yet, enjoying the sudden moment of almost re-encounter, tucking his chin over Ten's body and stroking his smooth fur. 

A part of him felt like tearing up, but he held it back just so Ten wouldn't get worried about the tension Taeyong sensed he got rid of. 

He never cared if Ten turned human, he loved him all the same no matter what the younger could claim himself as, there was enough violence in the world to turn down something beautiful because of differences like that. But to say he wasn’t worried about the repercussions of such loss in Ten’s emotions and body had him concerned to a degree. 

"I told you it was there, I could see the magic in your eyes" Taeyong inhaled, and then he asked the next question softly. "Can you change back?" 

Within a second, the younger lifted his gaze to look at Taeyong, body jolting on his lap. 

"Okay, okay" hushed Taeyong trying to appease him. "Don't get startled, I'm sure you can, are you going to try it n-"

Ten was already spinning around over Taeyong’s lap, almost jumping on place, so before he could be done with his sentence, the shiny burst of sparkles almost blinded him and Ten tumbled over the snow, falling on his back as his head landed on Taeyong's crossed legs. 

He hissed slightly, most likely due to the frostbite of the cold floor, and panted scared and tired from the strain. 

"Oh, fuck me" 

Taeyong chuckled under his breath with a hand caressing over Ten’s cheek, but his eyebrows betrayed his concern. 

"It got you tired? Are you okay?" 

"It… it got me tired" mumbled the younger one with his eyes closed as they laid on the snow. "But I'm okay. That was a bit… sudden"

Taeyong didn't miss the weak, small gesture of his boyfriend to lift his hand and inspect it with his eyes in silence, as if he could tell by the look of his skin how his body was managing his soul. 

He pushed his fingers through Ten's soft black and pink locks, unrushed. 

"How do you feel?" 

"Surprised" he blurted out first, sitting up and then getting back at his feet, lending a hand to Taeyong to pull him up and brush the snow off his bottom. "A bit dizzy too. Relieved" 

"Do you?" 

"I thought it was gone" he said, still seeming like the information hadn't finished sinking on him. The slight curl on the corner of his lips made Taeyong smile with ease. "But I guess not, I guess I'm still myself" 

"Hey, I told you you have been yourself all this time" corrected Taeyong, palms holding Ten's face and squeezing his puffy cheeks for a moment of self-indulgement. "I was sure you were still a forest creature but even if that energy wasn't there anymore your heart didn't change" 

"But I would feel incomplete, I felt incomplete, actually. A little bit empty, as if a part of me got stolen, and it's awful and cold… I don't like that" 

"Tennie…"

"I'm a bit scared that I can’t get it back" 

"It’s here, you know?" Tried to help Taeyong, but something was telling him his attempts to help Ten with words were a bit too weak, and the fox was already wiggling out of his hold with softness and pacing under the trees."We just saw it, you can handle it" 

"It was a power whiplash" he crooned, kicking a fallen pine cone some meters away from the wolf. "I don't know if that was the last I have, neither I know if I can handle the charge anymore, it got me fuddled" 

Taeyong knew that it was harder to get to his boyfriend's core with words than it was with significant actions, so he stood on his place for a solid second, thinking what could he do to take Ten's transformation moment back to the joyful memory instead of a doubtful trigger. 

"What if you try what we talked about?" 

Ten turned on his heels to stare at Taeyong. By the look of his eyes, the older could tell he was either trying to remember what that was about or actually pondering if it was a good idea to execute it. 

It wasn't so long ago that Taeyong had mentioned the fact that he never got to know why being fully taken under Ten's spell felt like. The one time Ten gave him a taste, he claimed it had been gentle enough to not ruin Taeyong afterwards, unlike what happened with a certain someone that got in the middle of their livinghoods. 

He also had had a glimpse of the asphyxiating puff of violet light in the moment they have first met for the second time.

Sounds weird to say that you have met your true love in two consecutive lives, but Taeyong was lucky enough to redeem himself from the first, failed time; and when he let all of that burst and transform into passion, Ten's unsettled bars of spiritual energy had shot up a little too fast for the wolf and choked him for some eternal seconds. 

It was slightly masochistic from Taeyong’s part to be so curious about a thing so dangerous, like wanting to boil a handful of wolfsbanes and eat the soup just to see what poison tastes like; yet there he was, under a cautious glance from the kumiho. 

"Sweetheart" he cautioned with a soft edge. 

"Why do you always say no to me when I ask for that?" Puted Taeyong, not only vehement but also hoping to erase Ten's gloom. "Ain't supposed to feel really nice?" 

"Taeyong"

"Just tell me, I can take it"

"I don't want to manipulate your love like that, okay?" Coughed out the younger one. The answer did not surprise Taeyong that much, but a part of him didn't expect the motive to be in that lane. "I want you to love me for what I am" 

"I'm already fully in love with you" 

It wasn't entirely new for Ten, but hearing such confessions of love always set his heart into a butterfly flight and made him draw in a deep breath before continuing. 

"Uh?"

"Ten, come on, we both know I love you so much, all just for who you are" whispered Taeyong. They both seemed to slowly be forgetting that they were in the middle of a frozen forest. "Now go ahead, try it out, I bet you will feel better when you see you can-"

"What if I _can’t_ control it?" He cut out, more stern than the wolf expected. Ten had a hard skull, he almost had forgotten, as if he hadn’t been flaunting all that harsh and cold side even weeks after they met. "Haven't you thought about that? I'm less balanced than ever, what if my hand slips and I ruin you? You know that, you could be placed in a half-trance for weeks, even months" 

"And what's the worst thing that could happen?" Protested Taeyong, finding Ten's argument almost ridiculous. Somehow they were getting into a fight, and that didn't happen often at all. "I'm already-"

"Is not the same, Taeyong" 

"You don't stimate well how deep i'm into you"

"It’s dangerous" 

"Well, and besides, I'm sure you can control it, why do you play yourself down all the time?" 

"Because I don’t want to harm you, don’t you get it?" 

If the pearl on Taeyong’s chest would have fallen onto the ground, the snow in the fifty centimeters around it would have melted into a puddle. It was burning like a hellfire, and Taeyong couldn't downplay it anymore, but he knew enough of his boyfriend already to have deciphered what that meant. 

So on the edge. 

"Just trust me!"

"I do, but I don't trust myself!" 

"Try it, I trust you enough for both of us!"

Ten turned to face his boyfriend again with an annoyed click of his tongue, and being honest, Taeyong did not expect the immediate shutdown. 

He expected a warning, a sign, a gradual start or just anything to give him time to prepare, but everything ran over him like an avalanche the moment Ten’s gaze darted through him with a flash of yellow irises. 

The things he once said when he warned Taeyong of a hidden true force of the effect became clear for him, they proved themselves real when the cold switched off, the temperature rising way too much for a domain covered in snow. The ice wasn't there anymore, anyways, the forest faded from the first cricket to the last squirrels, leaving space to only a slow and thick air that slipped under Taeyong’s clothes to kiss his skin. 

His eyelids fell half closed, gaze peeping through the fan of his lashes to stare only at Ten. 

His Ten. 

Even his lips parted with a heated sigh as he stared at his boyfriend with a daze, like seeing a whole new thing and something he knew well at the same time. 

His body was now hotter than the candent pearl, blood feeling like it turned lava at the mere tug from Ten’s mouth that got his pretty red lips to form a smirk. 

"Are you happy now?"

His voice could melt the icebergs at the poles when he spoke to Taeyong like that, so very velvety and slow. 

The wolf opened his mouth, caught in a impulse to reply and hoping he would find the right words once he started, but only a drowned whimper escaped his lips. 

A sneer painted Ten's face as he hid it behind his crunched fingers in a theatrical pose of thoughtfulness. 

"What's that little choked-up sound?" He sang, sounding all around the place for Taeyong. The fox was parading slowly and getting closer to him with an electrically charged kind of air that made Taeyong get covered in goosebumps. "What did you think would happen? Something tells me you can't actually measure what my magic does… poor Taeyong, I still remember how you relied on books to try to find out… not a good idea I figure" 

"It was very stupid" mumbled Taeyong. "It’s so embarrassing that I tried that"

"Don't blame yourself, right now I'm just pretty persuasive for you to admit that's how everyone else would have acted" 

"You are not pretty anything, you are stunning, if anything" 

"Oh my my" chuckled Ten, devilish. He was amused but Taeyong couldn't really remember what was the ironic point of that because he had forgotten their previous push and pull. "In this state you are even cuter than you normally are… I have to give that to you" 

"I'm cute for you?" Asked the older, smiling with a silly, shy demeanor. "You think that?" 

"Oh, baby, I do" 

His foggy eyes probably missed the sheer surprise on Ten’s eyes when he hastily grabbed the lapels of his coat, but Taeyong pushed himself onto the fox's chest and looked at him with pleading eyes.

"Kiss me, please, I want you to kiss me hard" 

"Taeyong, we kiss everyday, don't you remember?" Asked Ten, just fooling around a little. If they were doing this he may, as well, have a little bit of fun, and he knew that in that spell Taeyong wouldn't move first if he didn't do anything. "I have kissed you before, many times, we-"

Without a warning, Taeyong pulled himself even closer, which resulted in only a whine and a bumpy drag of his body all over Ten’s front. 

The youngest eased up the grip of the spell a tad, allowing some cold air to get into Taeyong to freshen up his mind.

"Breath a little" he advised the wolf, whose pupils seemed unfocused. "Yongie" 

"I… but I… I like" 

Ten let a humoured exhale go through his nose, incredulous of what he was hearing from the slightly more lucid wolf.

"Really, Taeyong?" He questioned. "You like this?" 

The return of the intensity for the second time in a row just made Taeyong’s body stretch up and then bend back a little, his head flopping back with his white hair brushing out of place. 

"Yeah" he exhaled. 

"Hey, don't fall" said Ten softly, wrapping his arms around Taeyong’s waist to hold him just in case he lost it. "Come back up with me, uh?"

As it was logical to expect, Taeyong moved up obediently and leaned his cheek on Ten’s shoulder, looking up to him with glossy eyes.

Ten knew his boyfriend probably felt like there was nothing better than Ten in the whole world for the moment the fog clouded his judgement, maybe even surprised and elated that he was playing along with his approaches as if he didn’t have all of Ten already. 

"If you find me cute, why don’t you kiss me? It’s taking you so long, kiss me, for goodness' sake, my lips are burning" 

Taeyong would have never noticed, but his fox was still a bit concerned. Nonetheless, his fingers slowly caressed his back and ended up tangling on Taeyong’s pale hair, finally joining their lips together. 

All that Taeyong could do was wrap his arms around Ten's neck, push him closer and closer until they almost tilted back, and roll his body against the fox. 

It was hard to rationalise, Taeyong just felt an acute flow of delight running through his nervous system. He felt Ten’s touch like the most cautious yet passionate caress, and the breath he let out onto his lips was so suffocating he thought he could pass without breathing oxygen anymore. 

The word 'insatiable' gained its truest meaning in a moment like that, where all he could think about was getting more of that until there was nothing left of himself to give out. 

He wondered what could be the edge of the line, how far he could go, what was the hardest type of love someone could resist to feel fulfilled. 

Mindlessly, his nails grazed Ten's skin unmercifully, trying to hold to him for his dearest life. 

Ten enjoyed the overall enthusiasm too much, that could never be denied if the topic was centered on his boyfriend. Taeyong’s tongue licked in his mouth, his hands tugged his black and pink hair, pushing down, and the air around them was translucent because of the hot, laboured pants of the oldest. But with all of that, the fox counted backwards from three to one, slowly, and when he got to zero, he made that spring inside him click and close the tap of everything. 

He leaned away from Taeyong carefully, with a gentle smile, hoping for the best out of the entire situation they just went through and finally finding his boyfriend with the most ravished expression he could get.

His lips were too red, parted, his cheeks a little bit flushed, and his eyes were glistening behind the barely open eyelids. 

He was about to move from where he had been nailed to the floor, but his knees felt feeble, and so he grabbed onto Ten's arm, eliciting a small giggle from the fox. 

_"Oh"_

"Baby" laughed Ten, elongating the nickname with endearment as he hugged his boyfriend. "Be careful with the things you wish… you feel okay, right? Remember everything?" 

"I’m fine, and I told you…" he panted and gasped, leaning on Ten’s shoulder again. "...I told you you were more than able to control it… you just have to give yourself the time to get used to the pace again. It's okay… to give a step back in something you thought you mastered, it's not bad… to get back a little" 

"The only thing I hate from you, Yongie, is that you would jump in front of a train just to humour me if you had to" revealed the younger, voice absolutely frank and clear, showing his languid melancholy. "Just like _that time_. You always put so much trust in me, you believed my theories so badly and I got you tired to d… to death"

The struggle to choke out the last word hit right through Taeyong. He caught Ten’s hand and pulled from him before the fox could go to hide his face from him. 

"I don’t just follow you blindly, Ten" trembled the white haired one, knowing for a fact, at that point of their relationship, that that was one thing Ten really was afraid of. The idea of a burden so big as to guide two clumsy, old-fashioned goblins throughout their lives without messing everything up wounded him up badly. "But you really stand a good point more times than you think. That to begin with, and second, you are allowed to be wrong. You are barely twenty-four, and even if you were eighty, still, your worth doesn't go down if you are mistaken" 

Ten took a sharp breath in, and then let it out with a paused air to relax his body and mind. 

"Then I guess your fox is back at home for christmas" 

Taeyong whacked Ten’s chest with an open hand, smiling and laughing clippedly while he got rid of the tear that rolled down his cheek with audacity. 

"That’s right, my fox is back to me, but I don’t think I had lost him. It’s fine as long as you stay"

"Don't cry, please" murmured Ten, moving the back of his hand to his boyfriend's cheek to caress him with delicacy. "I'm sorry, I didn’t mean to make you sad, but the possibility of causing you any damage terrifies me" 

Taeyong shook his head in dismissal. 

"I'm okay, I promise you that was everything but painful" cooed and smiled Taeyong, snuggling onto his boyfriend with that cute, coy wiggle. "And I'm sure you enjoyed it a little bit too, even if you want to act all cold and humble" 

"You are cute when you are reeling" admitted Ten, finally smiling again, peppering his cheek with small kisses. "How did you like that now that you can think straight? Was worth the curiosity?" 

"You should use it in bed when we get back at the apartment" 

"Taeyong!" Exclaimed the fox, funny and incredulous at the same time. 

"What? It feels good" he whined. The cold of the winter was returning to his system once the temperature of his emotion's rise up started fading out, but the tender embrace of his boyfriend kept him cosy. "It's like being blindfold but better because I can see how pretty you are" 

"Interesting way to describe the enhancement of senses" joked Ten, pleased enough. "So you want to go home already?" 

"No, I still have a surprise for you, remember? But... have it in mind" lulled the wolf, drawing flirty circles with his finger on Ten's chest. "Yeah? You promise?"

"Under the Christmas three? How does it sound?" 

"Too good" giggled the older. "I'll cancel your present's delivery and replace it for this"

"Oh, no, I want both"

"Okay, greedy fox, but let's get going while the sun is still up or we'll start freezing" 

"What's the surprise then?" Asked Ten, letting Taeyong guide him through the woods and resume their stroll. 

Taeyond didn’t answer, giving some credit to the fact that it really was supposed to be a christmas surprise for him, but Ten had his suspicions of what it could be, recognizing better every day again the invisible path to the lagoon. 

It was intriguing, because being a creature that is supposed to belong to the forest realm, Ten’s life and friends were all human, so spending a holiday with someone that was aware of that last puzzle piece to build his perfect nature was a new thing that Taeyong had brought with himself. 

Ten had many firsts with Taeyong and, up to that day, they kept coming. 

He surely didn’t have a concrete knowledge of how to be loved so deeply during holidays felt, and he had watched all those romantic christmas movies in his netflix account with a thick layer of despise over his secret crave, because he never thought something could be so wholesome in real life. He thought it was highly unlikely to meet someone that takes so many efforts to get a present that feels warm and personal, that no one is so… 

He took a deep breath in with a smile. 

So selfless. 

For once, he liked to be proved wrong. 

In fact, the sun was already close to fall and let a space for the moonlight when they arrived at the clearing where the lagoon had always been, hand in hand, and Ten could see a yellowish glow come from in between the bushes and trees shyly. 

His heart clenched in silence while he tried to keep some of his cool façade, getting closer and closer to the opening of the forest where only the two of them could reach. 

The warm light slipped through the leaves and painted abstract shapes and shadows over Taeyong’s face, sending chills to his boyfriend’s spine with the mere vision of something so utterly adorable and breathtaking. 

They crossed the few meters that still separated them from the clearing, skipping the wild brambles that reached out to their steps, and Ten’s eyes widened at the beautiful sight that welcomed him, finally understanding where the lovely light came from. 

"Merry Christmas, baby" whispered Taeyong, giving a loving kiss on his cheek. "I didn't know what to get you so I thought I could try to give you the last christmas we missed back, in the forest like we used to be" 

There were dozens of jars with candles hanging from the tree branches and framing that big slab of flat stone that slightly bridged upon the water of the now almost frozen lagoon. The controlated flames of the candles wavered faintly when they entered that precious circle, tinting with a bit of blue that supported Taeyong’s point about Ten’s present spiritual strength.

The big backpack that Taeyong had been carrying made sense suddenly, when the older of the dokkaebis took out one of Ten’s winter duvets and went to climb the stone, moved some of the layer of snow away and spreaded the thick blanket over the floor, sitting cross legged.

He gave a pure smile and glance at his boyfriend, who took no time following his steps and laying on his side as if everything was a picnic instead of the first snow day. 

“I'm speechless… This is insane, Yongie” he said, calm but meaning every word. "How long did this take you?" 

"Not that much, don't dare start worrying for me again"

"I'm not worrying, I'm just impressed and… touched" 

"Are you?" Asked Taeyong with a wide grin, laying on his side too and getting closer to his face to brush his jawline with his fingers. 

"Yeah, of course I am, have you seen this?"

"I'm just thinking… how scared of these things you used to be…" 

"Oh… yeah, a little" chuckled Ten, knowing that Taeyong had a point. "I'm sorry for that"

"Don't be!" Crooned Taeyong, practically jumping over his boyfriend with a cheered up grimace. Ten rolled on his back with the impulse as Taeyong hovered over him with his clingiest edge. Some snowflakes were still pouring from the sky, but they were shielded by the canopy of pines. "We get better with time, plus, you are cute" 

The tremulous and mellow tune of Taeyong's voice fanned over his neck as he snuggled there, pressing a kiss under his jaw. 

Ten couldn't help but to giggle under his breath as his hands took over the edges of Taeyong’s scarf to pull him closer, undoing the neat knot so he could respond with equally soft pecks which cascaded alongside his soft skin.

"Thank you, Yongie, I love it" 

Despite how dangerous Ten could claim his spellbinding skills to be and his endless, protective impulses to protect Taeyong from him, his embrace was warm and soft, even in the middle of the winter. He would hold the wolf like porcelain, kissing him sweetly and yet not dull. 

Ten could feel the older clinging onto him and leaning on his chest; his heart beating soothingly in the silence that only the wet smack of their kisses broke.

Softly, he decided to move Taeyong so they could be resting on their sides, allowing him the freedom of running his cold hands under the clothes of the older. 

Taeyong gasped and jumped with the sudden, gelid contact. 

"Your hands are cold" he hissed, still amused. "But you know, under these trees… feels like Christmas too…" 

"What are you suggesting?" Inquired Ten, just for the fun of hearing the answer out loud. "You had this planned all along?" 

"Not this part but, you know? Not a bad addition"

"So?"

He ended up providing Taeyong with a small hiss too, more sensual and dramatic, biting his lip even, when the older slipped his hands over his skin.

"If you are going to undo my scarf, you better balance the cold out with something hot" 

Ten hummed knowingly, abandoning himself to the very important task of treating Taeyong just like he deserved. 

Once, it was all of that that made the fox so terrified about getting closer to him; knowing his heart wouldn't be at peace if he played around with someone like Taeyong, who did no harm to this world but gave all that he had. 

He kissed his lips, sometimes soft and sometimes more pumped up, letting the older gasp or return the enthusiasm with a small bite.

He already knew the secret signs from his boyfriend to decide how to modulate his actions. 

A part of him still didn't want to steal clothes from Taeyong in such weather, so he just laid him carefully on his back and pulled his coat down only from the shoulders so he could leave love bites on the upper zone of his collar. 

Despite that fact, the wolf always succumbed to push Ten’s hair and purr with delight, his lips curving in a smile that, almost all the times, got to persuade the fox to compel. 

His tongue was warmer than his hands as it rolled on Taeyong’s neck, sucking and licking the fair skin of the older. Nonetheless, his palms were also warming up as Ten guided them up and down the dip of Taeyong’s hips, massaging the flesh. 

"You promised" mumbled Taeyong against his ear once his hair was messy, his lungs tired and his body warm and ready under Ten, whose knee was spreading his thighs appart. "Just this time, you can use it on me"

"You're asking me so nicely that you almost convinced me of it being alright"

"It's alright, Ten, I promise you. Think about it like this, as if we weren't doing it for you to feel relieved but to make me feel great" 

The occurrence elicited short little gasps from the younger into Taeyong’s neck. 

"Catch a breath" he recommended with a murmur that only appeared sensual to the wolf. "You're going to need it" 

He did so and filled his lungs with oxygen, not without being distracted by the slow move of Ten catching the pearl of his chest between his lips and moving the pendant away fromhTaeyong's skin, trying to prevent his boyfriend from getting an annoying burn.

"I trust you" 

He smirked with Taeyong's unconscious and sharp gasp right after he wrapped up his statement, gripping the blanket underneath with urgency. In that position, the wolf probably had felt like he was falling for a second, and the jolt of his body on the blanket confirmed his suspicions.

That's how everything began all the times.

Glazed eyes of desperation, kisses so intense it got the lips sensitive and swollen, sometimes pleads for Ten to be merciful… well, he liked to do all of that to Taeyong, but he had found out he was way more satisfied by the fact that he could get him there in the traditional way, no cheating with spiritual tricks. 

Anyways, there was something that made Ten feel more fond of their experiment as the wolf began squirming. 

It was Taeyong's expression. It was his sounds when he started panting and getting covered in sweat beads that could have frozen in the woods just by the action of Ten's mouth being attached to his skin. 

It had been a while since Ten didn't carry the force of a spell like that for so long, but maybe the wolf had been right and taking it back for once was a good idea, at least it was worth it if he had as much fun as he seemed to be getting when he pulled the buttons of Ten's shirt open and licked his lips playfully, eyes locked with the younger's. 

"You are so stunning" he moaned, unable to look away. 

Ten had smiled a bit impish, letting the violet cloud of allure fall down. 

"Repeat that now with your common sense" 

"You are stunning" he said, indeed, taking his own top off as well and wrapping his bare legs around Ten’s waist, quite ready for the rest. "And I love you with my whole heart, in this life… in the previous one… and if I find you in the next, in that one too" 

"You better find me, you better" said Ten, tongue sliding past Taeyong’s lips again to curl with Taeyong’s, bringing back the buzzing of ears and distortion of the surroundings, all slick and passionate all over the place. “Because I will look out for you still, a hundred lives more ”

Taeyong had become all whines at that point, body stuttering with less waitting than ever now that his head spinned without much control. His mouth fell open too, but the words had vanished almost to completion and all that Ten got from him was a throaty roar that couldn't come from his human part. 

It was a good reminder that Taeyong wasn’t human, if Ten needed any, but he didn't. Everyday he looked at his boyfriend and knew there was no possible way to fit Taeyong’s heart in a human body. 

The drag of his nails along the fox's back as he -slow but not moderate- thrusted in time after time did the trick too, drawing red lines on his skin whilst Taeyong’s hyper-unrestrained nerves dissolved into a drippy, loud and explosive grand finale that pulled Ten down in its way, both getting tangled on each other. 

Ten hurried up to grab Taeyong’s clothes again, helping his quite exhausted lover into his shirt, coat and even scarf so he could avoid catching an unnecessary cold. 

He let him rest there for some minutes, still spilled on the blanket over the stone, and sat up to pull his button-down together. 

A small jitter reached his ears then. 

"You're the beautifulest creature I have crossed ways with" 

Taeyong wasn’t lying, the impolute snow was falling shyly over the fox and tangling on his undone hair. The flakes that touched his hot skin soon turned liquid and dripped down his body with an enviable, soft touch. Even the candle lights were jealous of them and wanted to make a mark on him too, reflecting the orange hue on Ten's dark eyes. 

Ten sighed humorously. 

"Unfair ranking, you cannot cross ways with yourself"

"Quit your sweet talk, fox" 

"You started" accused Ten, well aware of Taeyong’s subtly blushed ears. He laid down next to him again, and wrapped both of them in the blanket, creating some short of roll where they could cuddle while looking at the night sky. "If you didn't want to hear the truth, you shouldn't provoke me" 

Taeyong chuckled, hearing the little, sweet nothings of his boyfriend and letting him cradle him. 

They didn't need much to be at peace with each other, just enjoying the tranquil night breeze that combed the forest, shielded by the high pines that bracketed the clearing and filtered the cold wind. 

Taeyong knew well that moments like that were the ones that he would treasure forever, the ones that he would carry with him to make his heart lighter if the world ever turned bitter for him and he couldn’t fix it, they would help him staying sane. 

Some days, Taeyong woke up and despised being cursed with the burden of responsibility for something big and antique that barely no human cared about anymore. He was terrified of being wrong in his supposition when he and Ten figured out that they had a second chance to live a calm life, he feared that someday someone would take Ten from his cold hands by force. 

And still, other days he just clinged onto his fox like he was under that blanket, with his nerves alight, and knew he was the most blessed person in the world if, through everything, he was granted a day more of that. 

A day at a time, he opened his eyes in the morning to Ten’s puffy eyes and untidy hair, and then he knew he had another pretty day ahead. And of course, sometimes days came out tiring, or upsetting, but then he came back home and it wasn't a lonely cabin anymore. 

It was _their_ house. 

"You meant what you said?" Asked Ten after a long time of silence. "About lifes. You have thought about us meeting each other again and again?" 

"I have" conceded the older with a softness prying in his tone that made Ten want to let go of a couple of held up tears. "When we met again up there in the shrine…. I know, it was painful, but I'll always remember the joy of discovering you for a second time. It was like I was missing something and suddenly got completed… I could repeat it every time this world brings me back" 

"But… we may not remember each other if a lot time passes" 

"I will know it's you even if I don't remember your face"

"Oh, please" scoffed Ten. 

No matter how much he had tried to make it sound like he was making fun of Taeyong's corny sentences when the salty drop rolled down his temple and betrayed him in front of the eyes of his boyfriend. 

His heart was clenched as if a fist was holding it unmercifully, and the smooth lips of Taeyong kissing his tear away didn’t help him with that. 

"Don't cry"

"It’s not a sad cry, it's just that I love you so much that I don't know how to take it out of my chest. All you do for me is amazing, I only got you a new set of rose cuts for your garden and a coat" 

"It’s more than enough, Ten"

"It's not, I could never tell you how much I-"

"Hey" hushed the older, prompting himself on his elbow and passing a gentle hand over his own chest to caress the hanging pearl. "You gave me half of you and trusted me to keep it safe, isn’t that enough?" 

Ten stared at him in silence, more than anything, because a knot had tied up his throat and his very little eloquence had run away. 

He loved Taeyong too much to ever be able to fit all of his feelings in a few, mortal, human words. 

"Is it?" He finally coughed. "Because all that I want for christmas or any day is that you know you are loved" 

Taeyong smiled, and the fox knew he had been spot on with his chosen words to compliment Taeyong just as he liked. His bright beam and his big eyes full of happiness told him what he needed to know. 

"You know why I chose this place tonight?" Asked the older. 

"Because I… let you know in this spring back then?" 

Taeyong shook his head, surprising Ten, but actually intriguing him. He sat up to look at his boyfriend face to face, the latter sitting between his spread legs. 

"Remember the night of the thunderstorm?"

"Uhm…" Ten took a second to rewind his memories, finding the concrete spot where he slipped inside Taeyong’s bed for the first time and scared himself with the feelings that tried to conquer over him. "Yeah" 

"That night, I had been trying to find out what this pearl meant" he explained, bashful, as his careful fingers picked up the jewell. "And when I went to sleep… I dreamed of you" 

"Uh?"

Ten seemed interested, his lips curling up by the confessions, especially when Taeyong’s face started growing pink just like it had done back then. 

"I dreamed… that we were sitting on this stone and you told me to give it back, but I was too distracted by your…"

"My what?"

"I don't know" giggled Taeyong, shrugging. "By you. Suddenly in that dream I found out that I wanted you to kiss me and make me forget the rest. I was so confused then… I know it wasn't our first kiss, I don’t think the dream even covered that part, but I still get shy when I remember it so I thought to bring it back" 

"Ain't that a present for yourself, then?" Teased Ten, making Taeyong pout and smack his shoulder with his hand. 

"I didn't know what to get you either. I bought an entire set of india inks for you but it seemed too little so I thought that maybe… I could give you a little bit of the forest Taeyong that would have been curious of your love in the woods" 

Ten smiled softly and nodded, ordering the thoughts inside his brain. Sometimes he forgot that Taeyong wasn’t less of a panicked man when it came to show how much he appreciated the fox. 

Maybe their emotions were too intense for the human yardstick Ten had been growing used to. 

"Are you still curious, little wolf?" 

"Mmmh?"

"About my love" clarified Ten, inching closer to his boyfriend's face and speaking over his plump lips, his hand playing with a loose strand of white hair. 

"Well" articulated Taeyong with a bit of difficulty, his own feelings mixing up with the leftover sensitivity that Ten’s spell had provided him with. "This Taeyong knows better, but he's still nosy and greedy to know" 

"Then let's go home before we get all sick and sore in this cold" suggested the older, pushing Taeyong up with him to catch him in his embrace before they could leave. "This Ten knows better too, and he likes the shared home and the homemade dinner. Loves come later, when you are safe under the blankets" 

"I'll take your word"

"You know I never break it"

Taeyong smiled. 

He knew, for sure and with proof, that Ten never broke a promise and never will. 

**Author's Note:**

> [ Twitter](https://twitter.com/leechailatten)  
> 


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